1. Field of Disclosure
Embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to methods and apparatus for providing uninterruptible power to sensitive and/or critical loads. More specifically, embodiments of the disclosure relate to racks used to house components of uninterruptible power supplies and to connectors used to connect power equipment within the racks.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Centralized data centers for computer, communications and other electronic equipment have been in use for a number of years, and more recently, with the increasing use of the Internet, large scale data centers that provide hosting services for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Application Service Providers (ASPs) and Internet content providers are become increasingly popular. It is often desirable to operate equipment within data centers seven days a week, 24 hours per day, with little or no disruption in service. To prevent any disruption in service, it is common practice in data centers to use uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) to ensure that the equipment within the data centers receives continuous power throughout any black out or brown out periods. Typically, data centers are equipped with a relatively large UPS at the main power distribution panel for the facility. Often, the UPS is selected to have sufficient capacity to meet the power requirements for all of the equipment within the facility.
FIG. 1A illustrates a well known connector, generally indicated at 10, used to connect power equipment 12, such as a power module, to a busbar 14. The capability of existing connectors to carry large currents is limited, such as 330 Amps (A), for the connector 10 illustrated in FIG. 1A. Such connectors are incapable of carrying higher current levels, such as adapting 100 kA short circuit. As shown, the existing connector 10 includes a thin body, which limits the capability of the connector to carry current due to a very short contact line with the busbar caused by the thin body. This short contact line further results in very high temperatures at contact areas between the connector 10 and the busbar 14, which is illustrated in FIG. 1B. These high temperatures corrode the connector above the contact line very quickly, with the corroded areas being more susceptible to increased temperatures.
Another disadvantage of existing connectors is that when being secured to the busbar, the connector needs to provide suitable pressure to ensure a secure connection. The connector includes a spring steel clip positioned at a contact point. With spring steel clips, it is difficult to determine whether the pressure is sufficient. The existing connectors also suffer from difficulty in dissipating heat from the contact areas.